A blog devoted to the discussion of the greatest movies ever made, or The Essential Films. From the beginning of cinema history to present day, these films are crucial to the education of anyone who loves the art of film making.

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The Essential 1000

Welcome to the Essential 1000. Below you'll find a list, in chronological order, of the 1,000 films that this site feels are Essential to any cinephile. With apologies to the authors of THIS great book series. The list features film from the beginning of cinema through 2017, each year the list will get updated with new entries. So start checking them off now!

Early Cinema (1902-1919)

A Trip to the Moon [Le Voyage Dans la Lune] (1902)

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916)

The Immigrant (1917)

Broken Blossoms or the Yellow Man and the Girl (1919)

1920s

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920)

Way Down East (1920)

Within Our Gates (1920)

The Kid (1921)

Orphans of the Storm (1921)

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

The Sheik (1921)

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922)

Foolish Wives (1922)

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

Nosferatu (1922)

La Roue [The Wheel] (1923)

Our Hospitality (1923)

Safety Last! (1923)

Why Worry? (1923)

Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923)

Girl Shy (1924)

Greed (1924)

The Last Laugh (1924)

The Navigator (1924)

Sherlock Jr. (1924)

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

The Eagle (1925)

The Freshman (1925)

Go West (1925)

The Gold Rush (1925)

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Seven Chances (1925)

Strike! (1925)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

Faust (1926)

The General (1926)

7th Heaven (1927)

The Jazz Singer (1927)

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

Metropolis (1927)

Napoleon (1927)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Underworld (1927)

The Unknown (1927)

Wings (1927)

The Cameraman (1928)

The Circus (1928)

The Crowd (1928)

The Last Command (1928)

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Speedy (1928)

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Steamboat Willie (1928)

Tempest (1928)

Blackmail (1929)

The Broadway Melody (1929)

The Iron Mask (1929)

The Love Parade (1929)

Pandora's Box (1929)

Queen Kelly (1929)

Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Woman in the Moon (1929)

1930s

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Animal Crackers (1930)

The Blue Angel (1930)

Morocco(1930)

À Nous La Liberté(1931)

The Champ (1931)

City Lights (1931)

Dracula (1931)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1931)

Frankenstein (1931)

The Front Page (1931)

Little Caesar(1931)

M (1931)

The Public Enemy (1931)

A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Freaks (1932)

Grand Hotel (1932)

Horse Feathers (1932)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

The Mummy (1932)

The Old Dark House (1932)

Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932)

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Vampyr (1932)

42nd Street (1933)

Dinner at Eight (1933)

Duck Soup (1933)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

The Invisible Man (1933)

King Kong (1933)

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Sons of the Desert (1933)

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)

The Black Cat(1934)

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

It Happened One Night (1934)

It's a Gift(1934)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

The Thin Man (1934)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Alice Adams (1935)

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Captain Blood(1935)

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

Mad Love (1935)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

A Night at the Opera (1935)

Top Hat (1935)

Camille(1936)

Dodsworth (1936)

Fury (1936)

Libeled Lady(1936)

Modern Times (1936)

Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936)

My Man Godfrey (1936)

The Petrified Forest (1936)

Sabotage(1936)

Secret Agent (1936)

Swing Time (1936)

Things to Come (1936)

The Awful Truth (1937)

Captains Courageous (1937)

A Day at the Races(1937)

Grand Illusion(1937)

Lost Horizon (1937)

Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)

Shall We Dance (1937)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

A Star is Born(1937)

Topper (1937)

Way Out West(1937)

Young and Innocent (1937)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Angels with Dirty Faces(1938)

Boys Town (1938)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

A Christmas Carol(1938)

Holiday (1938)

Jezebel (1938)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Pygmalion (1938)

Vivacious Lady (1938)

You Can't Take it With You (1938)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Dark Victory (1939)

Destry Rides Again (1939)

Gone With the Wind (1939)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Ninotchka (1939)

The Rules of the Game (1939)

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Stagecoach (1939)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Wuthering Heights (1939)

1940s

Fantasia (1940)

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

The Great Dictator (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

His Girl Friday (1940)

The Letter (1940)

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Pinocchio (1940)

Rebecca (1940)

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Ball of Fire(1941)

Citizen Kane(1941)

Dumbo(1941)

The Lady Eve (1941)

The Little Foxes (1941)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Meet John Doe(1941)

Sergeant York(1941)

Sullivan's Travels(1941)

Suspicion(1941)

The Wolf Man (1941)

Bambi(1942)

Casablanca(1942)

Cat People(1942)

Holiday Inn(1942)

I Married a Witch(1942)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Mrs. Miniver(1942)

Now, Voyager(1942)

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

To Be or Not to Be(1942)

Woman of the Year(1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy(1942)

Jane Eyre(1943)

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp(1943)

The More the Merrier(1943)

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Shadow of a Doubt(1943)

Stormy Weather(1943)

Arsenic and Old Lace(1944)

Double Indemnity(1944)

Gaslight(1944)

Henry V(1944)

Ivan The Terrible, Part I(1944)

Laura(1944)

Lifeboat(1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis(1944)

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek(1944)

To Have and Have Not(1944)

And Then There Were None(1945)

Brief Encounter(1945)

Children of Paradise(1945)

Christmas in Connecticut(1945)

Leave Her To Heaven(1945)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Mildred Pierce(1945)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Rome, Open City(1945)

Spellbound(1945)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Big Sleep (1946)

Gilda(1946)

Great Expectations(1946)

It's a Wonderful Life(1946)

The Killers(1946)

La belle et la bête(1946)

A Matter of Life and Death(1946)

My Darling Clementine(1946)

Notorious(1946)

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

Black Narcissus(1947)

Gentleman's Agreement(1947)

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

The Lady from Shanghai(1947)

Miracle on 34th Street(1947)

Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

Out of the Past(1947)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein(1948)

Bicycle Thieves(1948)

Hamlet(1948)

Key Largo(1948)

Oliver Twist(1948)

Red River(1948)

The Red Shoes (1948)

Rope(1948)

The Snake Pit (1948)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Adam's Rib(1949)

All The King's Men(1949)

The Heiress (1949)

Kind Hearts and Coronets(1949)

Late Spring(1949)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

On the Town(1949)

The Third Man (1949)

Twelve O'Clock High(1949)

White Heat(1949)

1950s

All About Eve(1950)

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Cinderella (1950)

Gun Crazy (1950)

The Gunfighter (1950)

Harvey (1950)

In a Lonely Place (1950)

Rashômon (1950)

Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Winchester '73 (1950)

Ace in the Hole (1951)

The African Queen (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

A Place in the Sun(1951)

Scrooge [A Christmas Carol](1951)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

High Noon (1952)

Ikiru (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Umberto D. (1952)

The Band Wagon (1953)

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

From Here to Eternity (1953)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

House of Wax(1953)

M. Hulot's Holiday(1953)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Shane (1953)

Stalag 17(1953)

Tokyo Story(1953)

Ugetsu(1953)

The Wages of Fear (1953)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea(1954)

Dial M for Murder(1954)

Gojira [Godzilla](1954)

Johnny Guitar(1954)

La Strada(1954)

On The Waterfront(1954)

Rear Window(1954)

Sabrina(1954)

Sansho The Bailiff(1954)

Seven Samurai(1954)

A Star is Born(1954)

White Christmas(1954)

Bad Day at Black Rock(1955)

The Dam Busters (1955)

East of Eden(1955)

Kiss Me Deadly(1955)

Les Diaboliques(1955)

Marty(1955)

Mister Roberts(1955)

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause(1955)

Rififi (Du Rififi Chez Les Hommes)(1955)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Giant (1956)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

The Killing (1956)

A Man Escaped (1956)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

The Red Balloon (1956)

The Searchers (1956)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

The Wrong Man (1956)

12 Angry Men (1957)

An Affair to Remember (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Night of the Demon (1957)

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Paths of Glory(1957)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Throne of Blood (1957)

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Auntie Mame(1958)

The Blob(1958)

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(1958)

The Defiant Ones (1958)

Hidden Fortress (1958)

I Want to Live! (1958)

Ivan The Terrible, Part II (1958)

Mon Oncle (1958)

A Night to Remember (1958)

Touch of Evil (1958)

Vertigo (1958)

The 400 Blows (1959)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Ballad of a Soldier (1959)

Ben-Hur (1959)

Black Orpheus (1959)

Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959)

North By Northwest (1959)

Pickpocket (1959)

Rio Bravo (1959)

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Some Like it Hot (1959)

1960s

The Apartment (1960)

Breathless (1960)

Eyes Without a Face (1960)

Inherit the Wind (1960)

L'Avventura (1960)

La Dolce Vita (1960)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Psycho (1960)

Shoot the Piano Player (1960)

Spartacus (1960)

The Virgin Spring (1960)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

The Hustler (1961)

The Innocents (1961)

Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)

One Hundred and One Dalmatians(1961)

A Raisin in the Sun(1961)

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

West Side Story (1961)

Yojimbo(1961)

Cape Fear (1962)

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Dr. No (1962)

Harakiri (1962)

How The West Was Won (1962)

Jules et Jim (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Lolita (1962)

The Longest Day (1962)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Music Man (1962)

Sanjuro (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird(1962)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?(1962)

8½ (1963)

The Birds (1963)

Charade (1963)

Cleopatra (1963)

From Russia With Love (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

The Haunting (1963)

High and Low(1963)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

Shock Corridor (1963)

Winter Light (1963)

Band of Outsiders [Bande à part] (1964)

Black Sabbath(1964)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)